Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Ham Noodles
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Make noodles according to the recipe on page 11.
Boil the noodles in lightly salted water.
Butter an earthen dish well.
Assemble and bake
Layer the noodles and chopped ham in the dish, using about 1 pint of ham and a little more noodles.
Beat the eggs with the sweet cream and pour over the top.
Cover with a thin layer of grated bread crumbs and small lumps of butter.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Noodles
- Form the bulk of the casserole and hold the layers together.
- Eggs
- Set with the cream to bind the casserole into a custard-like texture.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the noodles as the custard sets.
- Cold boiled ham
- Provides savory flavor and meaty substance throughout the layers.
The step that matters
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown. Egg and cream custards set through gentle heat; overbaking at high heat can make them curdle, turn rubbery and dry, so watch for a set centre and golden top.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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